Former England centre Luther Burrell has said his own team-mates called him a “n—–” and a “slave” in a tell-all interview with the Telegraph.
Burrell, who said he would never name names, revealed: “Things get said in jest without any thought. Every week, every fortnight. Comments about bananas when you’re making a smoothie in the morning. Comments about fried chicken when you’re out for dinner.
“I’ve heard things that you wouldn’t expect to hear 20 years ago. We had a hot day at training and I told one of the lads to put on their factor 50. Someone came back and said, ‘You don’t need it, Luth, put your carrot oil on’. Then another lad jumps in and says, ‘No, no, no, he’ll need it for where his shackles were as a slave’.
“Excuse my language but, what the f—? Where does that come from? Some players shake their head and others laugh along with it.
“People greet you as, ‘What’s up my n—–?’ It’s not meant in a bad way but when is it going to change? It’s a very, very raw subject. Over the past few years, it’s happened a lot. That’s the environment.
“It’s normalised because I allowed it to become normalised. I’d laugh it off. I’ve been a coward by not speaking up. Over the years, I’ve become thicker skinned. You know how long I’ve thought about talking about this. I will never name names but it’s gone on for too long.”
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